


The Tooth in the Fairy

by st_aurafina



Category: Bones (TV), House M.D.
Genre: Crossover, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-10
Updated: 2011-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-14 15:24:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/150724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/st_aurafina/pseuds/st_aurafina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Department of Diagnostic Medicine have an interesting problem, but Allison Cameron knows an expert in the field.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tooth in the Fairy

**Author's Note:**

> Written for femslash08. Spoilers for the House S4 and Bones S3 finales.

A week after Zack's bedside committal hearing, the atmosphere in the lab was oppressive with misery. Temperance found herself walking on tiptoe to avoid disturbing the silence, and the childishness of that action annoyed her intensely, as did the fact that her subconscious had made that decision for her. This time, when she caught herself walking up on the balls of her feet, she chided herself silently, and pressed her feet firmly on the polished floor all the way to the door of her office. Once there, she turned to close the door as softly as possible. After all, there was no reason to deliberately disturb the others. She did wonder, though, how they all knew it was the time for solitary, silent work: Hodgins pored over a mass of granular material with magnifying goggles, lost in the private envelope of sound generated by hugely expensive headphones; Angela sat nearby with her legs curled under her and a drawing tablet balanced on her knee, and on the walkway above, Cam was deleting messages from her Blackberry with soundless but vicious jabs. Nobody looked at the empty desk. Now was not the time to process that loss. Temperance pushed the door to her office and it closed with a soft click.

Booth was slumped on her sofa, quietly absorbed in an automobile magazine, and Temperance made a noise of exasperation. Booth raised his eyebrows, but didn't tear his gaze from the centerfold of an unattainable muscle car.

"Don't you have some work to do, or something?" Finally he managed to drag his eyes from the gleaming red Barracuda.

Temperance crossed her arms and looked pointedly at the magazine. "Don't you? Or does ‘Hot Rod Motor News' constitute a legitimate crime investigation?"

Booth raised an eyebrow in a lofty manner. "The automobile is a very common crime scene." His shoulders sagged a little, and he let the magazine fall to his knees. "Okay, I'm playing hooky. I'm supposed to be in a case review meeting, but I wanted to be here with all of you guys."

"Why? Nobody is talking to anyone. Everyone's doing their job. It's like nothing happened."

Booth stood up, and pulled out Temperance's chair for her. "You don't have to talk to feel better. After something really bad happens, doing familiar things, being close to people, it's a way of healing." He tugged her down into her chair. "Now do something normal, whatever you'd do at this time of day." He flopped down on the sofa and opened his magazine again.

Temperance frowned, but pulled her mail towards her and reached for the letter opener. "I hope this isn't what you're usually doing at ten in the morning, on my tax dollar," she muttered. Her hand paused over an overnight envelope with a familiar postal mark, then she slit it with a swift gesture. Pearly-blue x-ray films slithered all over her desk, and she snapped one into the light-box and flipped the switch: it showed the lateral view of a child's skull.

Booth looked up from his magazine. "Are you working a case without me?"

Temperance put her fingers on the film, and peered closer. "No. These are from a child at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. I went to college with the senior attending in Emergency; we exchange files when we find something relevant." She looked at Booth. "I have connections, you know."

Booth cringed. "So, that's from a kid? A sick kid?"

Temperance narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you turning green? I've seen you at the most grisly crime scenes, and you never break a sweat. This child isn't even dead, let alone a murder victim."

Booth shivered. "Dead kids I can get mad about, I can do something to help. Sick kids? Makes me want to cover Parker in bubble wrap until he's twenty-one. I don't know how that kid's parents cope, with that, that," he squinted at the white blob in the centre of the x-ray. "What is that? Some kind of horrible tumour?"

"No," said Temperance. "It's a tooth. An adult incisor."

***

"You changed your hair." Temperance reached out to touch the smooth blonde locks that escaped from Allison's pony-tail as they drove from the airport.

"That just goes to show we don't see enough of each other." Allison looked in the rear-vision mirror, and smoothly changed lanes.

"Your boyfriend is blond too, isn't he?" Temperance had been mildly surprised to receive a photo of Allison and Robert in last year's Christmas card, having heard nothing about him previously. "You know, it's common for animals that co-habit for long periods of time to slowly adapt their appearance to look more like their mates. There are studies." She watched out of the passenger side window as a semi overtook them at a terrifying pace. "In chimps largely, and the bonobo."

Allison made a wry face. "Guess I'd better dye my hair, then."

"You don't want to look alike? Or you're not co-habiting?" Temperance had lost track of her analogy.

Allison kept her eyes steady on the road ahead. "A friend of ours passed away. Well, Amber wasn't a friend, really. A colleague, I suppose. I really didn't expect to be so upset, but it makes sense: someone loved Amber, and he had to hold her while she died." She chanced a sideways look at Temperance. "Robert is being so understanding about it. I just can't explain to him that I don't want understanding, I want things to get back to normal. Everything is raw, right now. Everything hurts."

Temperance nodded. "I think I know what you mean."

***

Allison filled Temperance in on the case as they walked through the hospital. She looped an arm through Temperance's, negotiating the teeming corridors with the same composed efficiency as she had the drive from the airport.

"Emily had a seizure at her birthday party, so her parents brought her to the Emergency Room . We stabilized her, and handed her off to Neurology for further investigation – you almost always expect it to be juvenile epilepsy; she's the right age for onset, and she responded to anticonvulsants in a predicable way." Allison tugged them into an elevator and pressed a button. "But her EEG was atypical, and she was referred to Diagnostic Medicine. The poor kid had a tour of the whole hospital while they tried to figure out what was making her have those episodes."

"The tooth." Temperance kept her eyes on the elevator floor, watching the tips of her shoes as she stood beside Allison, not wanting to meet the faces of patients and frightened families and friends that huddled around them in the glare of the fluorescent lights. It had not been long since she had been sitting beside Zack's bed, and now the smell of antiseptic and fear was overwhelming. "It's supernumerary – she already has a full set of adult incisors ready to descend when her baby teeth are shed. It's fairly common to have a few extra adult teeth, but I don't think I've ever heard of one in the brain.

"Some tumours can spawn tissue that differentiates into teeth, but there's no sign of neoplasm in Emily's brain." Allison was out of the elevator before the doors had fully opened. Temperance scurried to catch up with her.

They stopped at an office, and Allison stuck her head through the open doorway. "Where's your team?" She was addressing a man dozing in a chair with a medical journal over his face. The man didn't speak, but raised his hands and mimed a butterfly fluttering in the air above his head. Allison nodded, and took Temperance by the arm again, dashing down another corridor.  
When Allison stopped moving, Temperance nearly went headfirst into a sliding glass door. They were standing outside a patient's room, and through the vertical blinds, she could see festoons of twinkle lights strung along the wall, with posters of fairies. A young girl lay listlessly in the middle of the hospital bed, a plastic tiara perched on top of her bandaged head. A pair of pink netting wings hung from the metal frame of the bed. A sudden realization struck Temperance and she turned to Allison with a horrified expression.

"Wait – you don't need me to talk to the patient. I really don't need to do that!"

While Temperance was sputtering, Allison opened the door, and pushed her inside, ducking her own head through to make introductions. "Doctors Kutner, Taub and Hadley: Doctor Temperance Brennan. She's here about the tooth." Three faces above white coats turned away from the small form in the bed to look at her curiously. Temperance reached back and wrapped her hand around Allison's wrist before she could slide the door closed, and pulled her into the room behind her. It felt better to face a room full of strangers with the warmth of Allison's body directly behind her.

Doctor Kutner was the first one to lean across the bed and offer his hand. "Oh my God, I love your books. Is it true they're going to cast Brad Pitt as Agent Lister? That would be awesome."

Temperance shook his hand awkwardly. "I don't know who that is, but the writer doesn't get a say in the casting of the movie. I get to approve the poster, though."

"Cool." Kutner seemed genuinely impressed.

"You're a Ph.D, right?" Doctor Taub tucked the chart under his arm and folded his hands in front of him. "Forensic anthropology. What are you here for, again?"

Temperance bristled at his patronising tone, then looked over his shoulder at the light box. "I haven't seen these films." Taub's words were forgotten as she pushed passed him to look closer.

"Those are Emily's MRI results," said Doctor Kutner. "We did the scan this morning."

Temperance put her fingers up on the crisp image. "But there's chipping on the incisal edge, and significant decay in the enamel. This tooth has been used. For chewing and biting." She turned back to look at the doctors. "That tooth is going to crumble like chalk as soon as it's exposed to air if it's not handled correctly."

"Maybe we don't need to remove it?" Doctor Taub raised an eyebrow. "After all, it's been there all her life, presumably. It may not even be connected to her symptoms."

Doctor Kutner frowned. "But, decay? That's like, caused by bacteria. We were assuming it was completely encased in a sterile environment."

"Maybe it was," said Allison. "You don’t need to know how it got there to treat it like a foreign body – maybe it's been encased in scar tissue. Maybe that scar has thinned as she's grown, and now it's not able to protect Emily's brain from the bacteria." Temperance met her gaze with a smile and nodded.

"How do you two know each other, again?" The female doctor was Doctor Hadley, and her eyes were narrowed in a way that made Temperance a little uncomfortable. She stumbled for an answer.

A voice quavered up from the bed. "Is she a mean doctor like Doctor House?"

Allison brushed past Temperance to the side of the hospital bed. She took the little girl's hand and straightened the tiara. "No, sweetie. This is Doctor Brennan, and she's not mean."

Doctor Kutner leaned over to whisper in Temperance's ear. "We had to ban House from coming in here. When she gets agitated, it sets off a seizure, and he kept saying he didn't believe in F-A-I-R-I-E-S."

Temperance wondered briefly what her personal belief structure had to do with Emily's case, "Fairies? But I don't believe in fairies either!" Much to her surprise Allison sprung up from beside the hospital bed and put a warm but firm hand over Temperance's mouth.

"Oh, man." Doctor Kutner leaned over the end of the bed, and took Emily's hands while the little girl's face crumpled. "It's okay, Emily. You know what to do. If you believe in fairies, clap your hands. If we all clap our hands, the fairy will be just fine." He pressed Emily's hands together with a gentle clapping motion.

Taub rolled his eyes, and put his hands together and clapped, as did Doctor Hadley. With her hand still covering Temperance's mouth, Allison gave her a nudge in the side, and though she hadn't any idea what was going on, Temperance joined in the round of applause, though she was starting to wonder when they would be getting on with the brain surgery.

***

Hours after she had completed her consultation, and five miles away from the hospital at a restaurant with Allison, Temperance was still upset. "I really didn't mean to disturb the little girl." She pushed her pasta around the plate miserably.

Allison topped up their glasses. "I know that. And the other doctors do, too. It's harrowing working for House when he's at his best, and he's really not at his best right now." She poked at the wine bottle, frowning at the red ring it had left on the linen cloth. "None of us are."

"I didn't notice you weren't at your best. You knew exactly what to say to Emily to make her feel better." Temperance mashed her giant piece of ravioli into paste; Allison looked as miserable as Temperance felt. She searched around for a cheering topic. "This is a nice restaurant. I really like the fountains."

Allison smiled. "We should have ordered more extravagantly; I was looking forward to charging the hospital." She broke a roll open, and half-heartedly spread it with butter.

"You know, the tooth could have been there pre-conception. Emily's brain could have formed around it, encapsulated like a piece of foreign matter." Talking about the case was comfortably familiar, and Temperance found herself speaking around mouthfuls of food as she talked. "Incisors are sharp – they could migrate like pieces of shrapnel. Maybe Emily's mother swallowed one of her own teeth without realizing it."

"House put that idea forward, early on, but Emily's mom has all of her adult teeth." Allison put her fork down suddenly with a grimace. "Oh. Pica."

"A compulsive need to consume non-nutritive objects." Temperance bit into her roll with relish. "That would explain it, except Emily's mom would have to have swallowed the tooth before she fell pregnant, and pica is most common during pregnancy."

Allison made a face. "Pica isn't always related to pregnancy. And Emily's mom is a dental hygienist."

"She stole teeth? That's very wrong; teeth are human remains, they should be treated with as much respect as human bones or organs. Stealing teeth is as good as body snatching." Temperance was appalled. She added sternly, "And furthermore, eating other people's teeth is not very hygienic." She took a hearty swig of wine, then wondered why everyone was looking at their table.

Allison pushed her plate away suddenly. "Have you had enough? I'm really not hungry anymore." She caught the arm of a waiter. "Can we have the check?" The waiter nodded, and brought it over.

Temperance neatly put her fork and napkin in the middle of her bowl. "Sorry. Casework is probably not the best dinner conversation." She looked at Allison; her face was flushed and her lips were pressed together tightly. Temperance's stomach sank; things had been going so well, and now she'd said something stupid or tasteless. She chewed her lip as Allison signed the check with clenched teeth then flung the pen on the table and left without a word. Temperance hated crying in public, too. She pushed in Allison's chair, and hurried to catch up with her friend.

Allison's heels clicked briskly as they walked in silence to the parked car. Once there, Allison gave a great gasping sob. Mortified at what she'd done, Temperance put her arms around her friend and held her tight. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to upset you!" They stood together for a few moments while Allison heaved and gasped against Temperance's neck.

"Wait a minute," said Temperance. There was something familiar about the rhythm of those gasps. "Are you laughing?"

From somewhere around Temperance's collar bone came a strangled whisper. "She ate the teeth! She ate the teeth!"

"It's really not that funny. She did eat the teeth. Well, a tooth, at least. We have no conclusive proof that she ate many teeth." Temperance was nonplussed.

Allison exploded with more hysterical giggles, and Temperance shook her friend gently in exasperation, even though she was smiling too. After a grim day for the two of them, it was good to see Allison's eyes creased with laughter. Just for a moment, the frightening things that had happened to both of them seemed far away; it reminded Temperance of the way things had seemed so easy and uncomplicated when the two of them were at college. With fingertips resting on Allison's face, Temperance kissed her, her mouth open. Allison made a small noise of surprise, then curled one hand in the small of Temperance's back to pull her a little closer. Temperance closed her eyes in contentment. Things were simple, after all: closeness was good, wine and warmth of another person was good. She would have happily stood there all night, pressed against Allison's body, with arms wrapped around her, but a passing car laden with hooting college students interrupted their privacy. Allison tilted her forehead against Temperance's for a moment, then stepped away and opened the passenger door for her.

***

Temperance woke with her nose pressed against the sharp curve of Allison's shoulder blade. Allison was talking on the phone: complicated medical instructions that Temperance could probably follow if she didn't feel stretched and glossy like warm taffy. She spread her fingers out wide; with her thumb she could feel where the flat of Allison's stomach dipped towards her navel. Without a pause in her instructions on the phone, Allison pressed her own hand firmly against Temperance's to stop her from moving any lower. Temperance could hear the smile in her voice, and kissed the nape of Allison's neck instead. When the directions to the attending doctors were complete, Allison dropped the phone on the floor and rolled onto her back, dragging Temperance upwards again to kiss her on the mouth.

"Don't make me frighten the residents; they're under enough stress already."

Temperance nestled against Allison with a sigh. "After the stories you told me, I doubt anything could frighten them now." She propped herself up on one elbow. "Are you sure this is all right? With Robert, I mean."

"This isn't about Robert. This is… uncomplicated. We're friends, we needed to feel better, and now we do." Allison pulled Temperance back down against her. "And tomorrow we'll go back to work, life will go on, and we'll be able to cope with everything it throws at us."

Sleep hovered politely but insistently at the back of Temperance's mind "You always were ridiculously optimistic," she said drowsily. "Things never work out that easily."

Alison's breathing was slow and rhythmic, she was almost asleep too. "There's nothing wrong with wishful thinking."


End file.
